April 30th, 2009:
Interbay Driving Range and Madame K's Pizza Parlour
Okay, while the title of this first Date Night may seem a little crass to some of you (sorry mom!), it really is quite fitting for what we ended up doing last night (no, not that)!
We headed first to
Interbay Golf Course, to hit a couple buckets of balls at the driving range!
Neither of us had ever been golfing (Mandy had ‘dabbled’ with miniature golf, and Brett had golfed a dozen or so times in Australia, but never in America) so this was a first for both parties! Blind leading the blind, really…
[at least we dressed the part!]
It was SUCH a beautiful night for golfing – sunshine and 65 degrees – we were able to get a medium bucket (about 75 balls) for only $8
AND, we totally scored, because Monday through Friday evenings, you get DOUBLE BUCKET night! Which means, we got about 150 balls for less than ten bucks (that’s a lotta balls!)! Since neither of us golf, we didn’t have our own clubs, but we weren’t worried—they have irons there for you to use for FREE! And, it’s only $3 to rent a driver. Grabbed some Alaskan Ambers at the bar ($4.50ea) and headed out to try our hand at the range. So, for about $20, we were good to go with balls, irons, and beers! Awesome!
It was one of those double-decker driving ranges (like they have in the movies!) and of COURSE we HAD to be upstairs! Only downside, you can’t use the drivers upstairs… so we decided to spend half our time upstairs trying our hand at the irons, and the latter half downstairs with the big bad driver… We collected our balls from the ball machine (this thing was so cool! We felt like we were collecting quarters from a winning slot machine!) and headed down to find our spot. It was very crowded, it being a beautiful night, but we finally found a spot and started our hand at golf. Of course, Brett killed it… Mandy had a bit harder time, but finally got the hang of it (and of course, hit the guy in the cart collecting the balls like TWICE! Whoops!)
After golf, we were FAMISHED, so we headed over to Ballard to grab a bite at
Madame K’s.
Mandy had wanted to try this place for ages! She’d heard that it was fun, funky and sassy (all 3 prerequisites) – used to be an actual brothel, and they provided boas and slinky dresses, funky hats and canes that the patrons could actually WEAR while dining!
[brett really wanted to wear the red boa, but i snagged it first.]They don’t take reservations, but we got right in, and were seated at a booth in the back. This place was great! Very funky, cool lighting (very RED, so of course, everyone looks good in it!),
lingerie hanging from the walls, the ceilings, the tables… funky and sassy for sure! We had to wait a bit to be served, but there were only two waitresses, so we weren’t too bent out of shape about it (although we were starving!)… ordered some beers (~$4ea) and a large, thin-crust bbq chicken/potato/cilantro pizza to share (YUM!) for about $28 bucks.
The pizza was great! Nothing to write home about, but certainly wasn’t bad. NOT a very good wine selection (5 reds and 2 whites to choose from).
With full bellies (and still half a pizza left over!), we asked for the check – it arrived complete with lipstick kisses -- $45 bucks, NOT BAD for a date night!
Headed home and CRASHED after a long day and an extremely fun night!
xoxox
She said:
Had a BLAST last night! It was funny, I knew that Brett would love the golfing, but he told me at dinner that ‘this is the perfect man-date: golfing in the sun, going to a BROTHEL, and pizza and beer!” Yay! Success!!
Interbay was fun, and we left deciding that we are DEFINITELY doing this more often! Okay, Brett was claiming he doesn’t golf, and isn’t very good, but HE IS GOOD. I swear that man can do anything, and do it well. I, on the other hand, truly had never done this before, and it was clearly obvious! Although I missed the ball only twice (out of one-hundred!), I had terrible form, and when I did hit the ball, only hit it about 100 feet. Finally Brett showed me just how to hold the club, and where to hit it (since somehow I was under the impression I was supposed to hit the balls as though I was playing croquet – what? Is that not how you’re supposed to do it??) and finally I improved [slightly].
I’ll definitely be back (and for you single ladies, TONS of guys there!), but I’m going to have to invest in a really cute diamond-encrusted girly practical glove—it really did hurt my hands after a while! (I’m such a wimp!)
Madame K’s was great, exactly what I pictured (not fancy by any means… think buca di beppos but with a sexy twist). We arrived pretty late, though, and I think the staff must’ve been tired or something – I had read reviews that the staff gets really flirty and sassy with you (it IS, after all, a Brothel!) … but I saw none of that. They close at 10pm (and we arrived at 9p), so perhaps they were over it for the day. The service was slow, but it was probably just noticeable since we were SO hungry… I guess that’s why appetizers were invented (note to self: order appetizer!)!
(I of COURSE grabbed a red boa to wear during dinner. That’s part of the fun of eating in a brothel!)
The pizza was great! But really, can you go wrong with bbq chicken, cilantro, and potato? I think not! Loved the idea of potato on a pizza. And it was huge, so we had lunch (and dinner!) set for Friday! Also, there’s a HUGE back deck perfect for warm summer nights (wasn’t open last night, unfortunately).
All in all, I highly recommend both interbay driving range AND Madame K’s for a fun-filled night on the town!
He said...
Since Mandy pretty much summed everything up in her she said, i won't bore you with reiteration. I will, however, make my contributions to the next Date Night posting... Oi, and Mandy's heaps hot.
RATINGS:
Interbay
Romance: 2
Cool Ambiance/Interior: 2
All Around Service: 3
Cost: $
Would we recommend it? 5: Yes! And can we come with you?
Madame K's
Romance: 3
Cool Ambiance/Interior: 4
All Around Service: 3
Cost: $$
Would we recommend it? 4: Good! Just not our favorite.
First and foremost, it is crystal clear Stollie loves his tucker (food), and by "love" I don’t mean in a pre-subway Jarred kind of love. 
